Are common sugars precursors of fullerenes and graphene?

Sugar was discovered in space which brought vivid memories of sensational discovery of Buckminister fullerene (C₆₀) in 1985. However, the fullerene synthesized was in trace amounts. The second breakthrough in fullerenes research came in 1990 when Professor Donald Huffman and Professor Kratschmer made gram quantity of fullerene. As on date, the raw material for commercial production of fullerene is graphite which is a costly material. Pang et al (1991) suggested coal derived coke was raw material for the commercial production of Fullerene, but it is also costing about 500 USD per tonne. Thus, the search for economic and abundantly available raw materials for commercial production of fullerene/graphene is the need of the hour. A comprehensive experimental account will be discussed in the present paper for industrial preparation for these potential materials. Sugar contains carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. The ratio of hydrogen and oxygen is 2:1 which is same as found in water. If these water molecules are completely removed from sugar, the remaining product will be fullerene (Carbon 60). The thermal treatment of the most common sugars in an inert atmosphere that too significantly lower temperature (450-500°C) seems to be an alternative economic sources for commercial production of the aforesaid materials. The present market value of pure fullerene ranges from USD 250-1,000 per 10 grams. But if extracted from sugars, its cost is cut down by 80%. Tour and his research groups in Rice University reported that depositing carbon-rich sources on copper and nickel substrates produced grapheme in any form; single-bi- or multilayer sheets that could be highly useful in a number of applications. Thus, sugars can be turned quickly and easily into Fullerenes and Graphene and the process is scalable for industrial production. Hence, Fullerene/ Graphene are new range of carbon materials destined to play role in the technology of the 21st century. (author)